Today, a man who lives in the White House with 14 accusations of sexual assault and sexual harassment made against him tweeted his support of a man with three accusations of sexual assault made against him for the Supreme Court. This is the climate we still live in, even after the watershed #MeToo movement.
Trump must have been watching some other hearing. Kavanaugh’s appearance in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee was not only dismissive of sexual assault survivors everywhere, it’s raising doubts about his temperamental fitness to sit on the highest court in the land.
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford told her side of the story calmly and with no inconsistency. Kavanaugh raged, sobbed, yelled, and blatantly refused to answer questions. Had their performances been reversed, Trump’s tweet about the hearing would have looked much different. He’s not hesitated to attack Dr. Ford in the past.
Kavanaugh’s one sympathetic moment came when he emotionally spoke of the impact the accusations have had on his family. It is definitely true that none of them are responsible for the hearing and should not have to suffer as a result. However, that’s not compelling proof of his innocence. In fact, he offered none of that.
The committee, as well as the American people who watched the hearing, heard that Kavanaugh could not be guilty because four people said the incident never happened. He stated this repeatedly, despite the fact that it isn’t true. We heard him talk about how he couldn’t have done it because there were no parties on his calendar, he played basketball, he made good grades, other women say he didn’t rape them, and he was busying preparing for football camp.
None of that is compelling, powerful, or riveting.
Twitter didn’t find Kavanaugh all that “riveting,” either. Read some of their responses below:
Featured image via Flickr by Michael Vadon under a Creative Commons license
